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Sunday, January 16, 2011

About a year ago, I stumbled on Michael Symon's Sriracha wings at Hot Sauce Daily. I fell in love with them because of their well developed spiciness and flavor. Since then, no other wings I have tried have come close to matching the taste excitement of Sriracha wings...

Until last night about 8:37 PM when I made this recipe from Steven Raichlen's Planet Barbecue! These piri piri wings bring a gauntlet of sensation. It's kind of like if you build a washing machine made out of heat (spicy), flavor, and "mouth-wateriness" and then throw yourself into it on spin cycle.

(Yeah, if you're counting that's about the eleventieth successful recipe I've made from this book. If you're going to even LOOK at a grill this summer, go buy this book. )

First, these are supposed to be hot but I know not everyone likes the sweet burn of capsaicin. I consider myself as a "medium" heat kind of guy leaning towards "hot". Here is how I think I'd adjust this recipe for varying tastes. I haven't tried these, just my thoughts.

Put the marinade ingredients...

into a mini food processor...

And process about 6-10 pulses until well blended.

What?

Yes. I have a Magic Bullet, don't be a hater. I got it as a birthday gift last year.

It is actually quite handy for marinades and dipping sauces. While their informercials would make any foodie cringe (who needs a food processor for an omelet?), it doesn't take up much space, it's easy to clean and I find I use it about once or twice a week for quick jobs. Plus it is super portable and easy to use out by the grills.

Marinate the chicken wings. Look how colorful and rich the marinade is. I can't wait to try the same thing on shrimp this summer.The original version calls for overnight, Raichlen recommends 6-24 hours. I didn't have that kind of time so I broke out a tool I've had for about a year but haven't used - a FoodSaver Quick Marinator. The theory is the vacuumed atmosphere will make the marinade soak in quicker.

I doubt the "science" behind that but after making the same recipe yesterday and today, only using the quick marinade tonight, it does seem to have made a visible difference. I'll do some kind of a side by side comparison later because I know the Engineer in Larry wants to know. Maybe he and I will do a controlled experiment this year. (Sounds like another good excuse for us to get some folks together for a taste test.)

I departed from Raichlen's instructions at this point and followed my general wing cooking technique - 30-20-10 wings. I set up the Big Green Egg for indirect heat at 350 -375f. I cooked the wings for 30 minutes....

Then flipped and cooked for 20 more minutes.

Then I tossed them in the "tossing sauce" and let them cook another 5-10 minutes. Just long enough for the sauce to cook onto the wings. I reserved about 1/4 cup for a finishing sauce.

I'm actually disappointed in the pictures because the wings were so much better than they look. I know...they don't look horrible. But damn they rocked the taste. The pictures just don't do them justice.

[Standard Disclaimer] I didn't receive any compensation for this post. I got the Raichlen book for free last year from his publisher but have bought more of his books since then. The Magic Bullet was a gift from a family member. And Fire Ant Juice is just the best hot sauce on the face of the planet, it makes everything else look ridiculous. Oh, we also bought the FoodSaver Quick Marinator at retail.

You're absolutely killing me with these wing posts. I have two family packs of wings in the freezer just dieing to be turned into your killer meals, but I'm still stuck for a few more days until Bev's diet goes to a more relaxed phase. Thanks for the mention and I think a taste test is a great excuse to get together.

This recipe is a great find, Chris. That marinade alone made my mouth water - and the finishing sauce was the coup de grâce. My guys will swoon when I make them. And I love the heat guide. Hilarious yet helpful.

I'm stuck on the image of tossing myself into the washing machine on the spin cycle! LMAO!!!!! I'm kind of in between the "where's my pacifier" and mild type of heat person. I'm going to make sir sportsalot grill some of these this summer (he refuses to grill during so cal's winter months....(eye roll))

When I'm in the mood for chicken wings, which is rare, it's usually because I have a spice craving that NEEDS to be satisfied IMMEDIATELY. No knock-off mild version will do. Guess I know what I'll be making next summer...

Ok, so here's an "AHA!" moment in my cooking development. On Brent's BGE blog a few months back you made a comment about your 30-20-10 wing process and I've tried it several times. I always burn the h3ll out of my wings. Today I learned the missing link. Indirect heat. AHA! And by the way, I saw Steven Raichlen's tweet about this post too. That's good pub, Chris! Awesome!

I've been reading through your blog now, after just having discovered it, googling "beer cheese soup." You are so my new best friend! All these recipes look amazing, and I love a good, Southern cook. (P.S. - I have a magic bullet too, and it really is great, even if the infomercials are shameful.)